:: Purposeful Death Overhead ::

January 22, 2006

Dopamine: The Romeo and Juliet Syndrome

National Geographic recently released an article entitled "Love: The Chemical Reaction" which explains the anguishes and intricacies of love as based off of dopamine, a hormone that stimulates the passionate "crazy for you" love, or as National Geographic refers to it, a state very similar chemically to obsessive compulsive disorder. Great. What mankind has spent thousands of years idealizing is actually a mental disorder. The other kind of love, the comfortable, cozy familiar kind, is said to have been caused by increased levels of the hormone oxytocin.
Since dopamine is most likely produced by the body in order to increase chances of procreation, while oxytocin does not, I was wondering whether it would be feasible to conduct a study of livespans of people against what age they "fell in love." Dopamine seems to prevail in youth, and since it seems linked to sex, whose cells don't age as do the rest of our bodies (one theory explains that the ends of most chromosomes "telomers" shorten with age - a possible cause?) Is it possible that dopamine itself is linked to retaining youth? Increasing levels of the hormone in the body [a study could be done on levels of dopamine in individuals of different ages, though most likely studies will find that the older the person, the less dopamine they produce. Still, it would really be interesting to find out how much dopamine is produced in people going through the crazy romeo and julietesque love - though hopefully without the suicide part- and whether the levels of the hormone/ increase in hormone are similar throughout age groups] could possible help stop the mechanism that signals cells to stop renewing themselves...or whatever combinations may take place.

But can love really be explained via hormones? It's such a cynical approach to life, that whatever that chaotic turmoil we go through may be, its only caused by our need for sex. If we regard it that way, the "playas" we so despise are really just people that are honest with themselves and others.

:: Alina 11:24 PM Comments: Post a Comment